Tension between Hawthorn greats Alastair Clarkson and Sam Mitchell is believed to be at fever pitch following an apparent swipe from the master coach to his one-time protege.
Clarkson is believed to have told a story to AFL academy prospects on Mitchell’s struggles in his early grand final appearances, and while the four-time premiership-winning coach may have intended it as a “redemption” story, it has not gone down well at Hawthorn.
According to The Age’s Caroline Wilson, Clarkson has attempted to get in touch with Mitchell to explain the reasoning behind the story being told, but his calls have so far gone unanswered.
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”My understanding is that this is a story Alastair Clarkson tells often,” she told Nine’s Footy Classified.
“You can treat it as a redemption story that Sam didn’t play well in a couple of grand finals before becoming one of the great premiership heroes of the Hawthorn Football Club.
“This is not the way it has been seen by the Hawthorn Football Club or Sam Mitchell.
“The speech went for a long time … a lot longer than even they expected. Various versions have come out of that meeting, some say it was a redemption version, others say words like ‘selfish’ were used by Clarkson in relation to Mitchell.
“It has fragmented a footy club. Frankly, it’s fragmented a premiership dynasty because I think people are starting to take sides now. Are you a Clarkson man or are you a Mitchell man?
“Mitchell, up until now, has taken the moral high ground, he hasn’t actually said much. I predict that might change this week.”
The latest episode in the Clarkson-Mitchell feud comes after Clarkson unleashed on Hawthorn for how it has handled the racism review, with an AFL investigation showing no sign of nearing a conclusion.
Adding another layer to the fallout between the pair is the fact that Hawthorn’s 10-year reunion for its 2013 premiership, the second in the Clarkson era, is fast approaching.
According to Wilson, those at Hawthorn believe there is “no way known” Clarkson will attend the function.
Mitchell last week admitted that he would like to see his coach attend, but Essendon great Matthew Lloyd cast doubt over whether that was actually the case.
“I listened to your interview with Sam Mitchell, he’s not ringing Alastair Clarkson,” Lloyd told Footy Classified.
“He was pressed by David King in the interview and he’s probably said what he needed to say.”
Lloyd suggested that it was inappropriate for Clarkson to tell a story regarding Mitchell’s struggles, even if his intentions were genuine.
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“I take him on face value that he’s genuinely telling a story to players about Sam’s first couple of grand finals to how he turned it around,” he said.
“What I wouldn’t do is, knowing their relationship now and the way he took over from Alastair Clarkson, you wouldn’t think it would be a story Alastair would continue to tell while people believe it could be anything more than him just telling a genuine story about how a champion player may have been selfish or may have been about disposals, may have been about himself but then turned himself into a great performer on the biggest stage of all.”
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